NEW MODELS is a series of portraits and interviews of people and initiatives shaping tomorrow’s world. Fashion, food, design… How can we produce differently? Who is shaking things up and why?
Today, we meet New York-based artist Blair Breitenstein. With each stroke of her marker, she redefines fashion illustration with a very personal and 60s-inspired style. Interview.
Follow Blair on Instagram @blairz
In these photos, Blair is wearing the TINEBOROW jumpsuit in grass.
Blair Breitenstein has always been passionate about drawing. She grew up watching her grandfather paint and drew inspiration from him. In school, she spent her free time sketching women’s figures, without realizing that she could do this as a career. “So I studied advertising, with a focus on art,” she tells us.
She pulls her inspirations from fashion photos from the 60s to 90s, notably those by Helmut Newton, Irving Penn and Sam Haskins. As for colours, which play a huge role in her work, she turns to Picasso and Matisse. She describes her style as “expressive, exaggerated, imperfect and cheerful.” She mainly draws fashion illustrations, with a combination of pastels and markers. However, from time to time, she’ll also produce a contemporary still life, “as long as it’s glamorous,” like Martini glasses, for example.
Recently, American Vintage contacted her to decorate the windows of its first New York store: “I identify with the brand. I love how effortless and comfortable the pieces are. I was immediately inspired by the red and green of the fall/winter 2021 collection.” For this fresco on glass, Blair Breitenstein had to adapt her work methods: “The transparency of glass was a complicated factor. I had to do very colourful and highly contrasted illustrations.” Mission accomplished.
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AMV Journal is a space dedicated to encounters, discovery and travel. Every week, explore the musts, portraits and inspirations of American Vintage and its creation studio.